Dems, GOP press Obama administration on drone use WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats and Republicans on Tuesday challenged the Obama administration to explicitly spell out its justification for using drones for targeted killings amid growing concerns about unchecked powers of the presidency and Americans’ civil liberties. “Even as President Obama commands a military with the most sophisticated weapons known to man, including the weaponized drones used in targeted killing operations, his autho...

Bush library exhibits: 9/11, war, Katrina, recount DALLAS (AP) — A tour of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum begins in a bright area representing his early domestic agenda, but with one turn, visitors find themselves in a darkened room surrounded by chilling reminders of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. This contrast, symbolizing Bush’s abrupt shift in priorities less than eight months into his first term, is among the most poignant exhibits at a museum being dedicated this wee...

As Boston buries its dead, more evidence gathered BOSTON (AP) — The Boston area held funerals for two more of its dead Tuesday — including an 8-year-old boy — as evidence mounted that the older Tsarnaev brother had embraced a radical, anti-American strain of Islam and was the driving force behind the Boston Marathon bombing. Younger brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s condition was upgraded from serious to fair as investigators continued building their case against the 19-year-old college student. He...

Kansas woman meets circus tiger in bathroom SALINA, Kan. (AP) — A central Kansas woman likely won’t remember her first circus for the clowns or performances — it’ll be the tiger in the bathroom. The big cat had escaped briefly after its turn in the ring Saturday at the Isis Shrine Circus in Salina. Staff members blocked off the concourses at the Bicentennial Center as the tiger wandered into the bathroom, where one of the doors was blockaded. About that time, Salina resident Jenna Krehb...

Man hijacked bus before killing himself AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Police said a gunman hijacked a city bus in Austin, ordered the driver and passengers to get off, and led officers on a 30-mile chase into rural Texas before pulling over and killing himself. The Austin American-Statesman reported the man boarded the bus about 4:30 p.m. Saturday. He forced everyone to leave the vehicle, got behind the steering wheel and drove off. Police spotted the bus and pursued it. They tried several t...

Midwestern river cities brace for floodwaters CLARKSVILLE, Mo. (AP) — The fast-rising Mississippi River was making travel difficult Saturday, both on the river and for those simply trying to get across it. The Mississippi, Missouri and other Midwestern rivers in at least six states have surged since torrential rains drenched the region over the last few days. At least two deaths are blamed on flash flooding and a third was suspected, while crews in Indiana were searching for a man whose c...

Across America, a week of chaos, horror — and hope Moment after nail-biting moment, the events shoved us through a week that felt like an unremitting series of tragedies: Deadly bombs. Poison letters. A town shattered by a colossal explosion. A violent manhunt that paralyzed a major city, emptying streets of people and filling them with heavily armed police and piercing sirens. Amid the chaos came an emotional Senate gun control vote that inflamed American divisions and evoked memories of the ...

Some residents allowed back home after Texas blast WEST, Texas (AP) — Stranded families growing weary and frustrated since a deadly Texas fertilizer plant explosion left them barricaded from their battered homes finally began returning Saturday, but only under a curfew and strict warnings to not wander beyond their own yards. Authorities gave the much-awaited OK after a nervous morning. Emergency workers had told residents packed in a hotel — waiting for updates about their neighborhood — that...

5 snowboarders killed in Colorado avalanche GEORGETOWN, Colo. (AP) — Five snowboarders were killed Saturday afternoon after apparently triggering a backcountry avalanche on Colorado’s Loveland Pass, authorities said. Search and rescue crews recovered the bodies several hours after the slide, which was about 600 feet wide and eight feet deep, said Clear Creek County Sheriff Don Krueger. A sixth snowboarder caught in the avalanche was able to dig himself out and call for help, Krueger sai...

Doctor: Dead bomb suspect had wounds ’head to toe’ BOSTON (AP) — A doctor involved in treating the Boston Marathon bombing suspect who died in a gunbattle with police says he had injuries head to toe and all limbs intact when he arrived at the hospital. Dr. David Schoenfeld said 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev was unconscious and had so many penetrating wounds when he arrived at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center early Friday that it isn’t clear which ones killed him, and a medical examiner wi...

Safety rules limited for small fertilizer plants There were no sprinklers. No firewalls. No water deluge systems. Safety inspections were rare at the fertilizer company in West, Texas, that exploded and killed at least 14 people this week. This is not unusual. Small fertilizer plants nationwide fall under the purview of several government agencies, each with a specific concern and none required to coordinate with others on what they have found. The small distributors — there are as many of 1...

For bombing suspects, question may be who led whom BOSTON (AP) — Tamerlan Tsarnaev ranted at a neighbor about Islam and the United States. His younger brother, Dzhokhar, relished debating people on religion, “then crushing their beliefs with facts.” The older brother sought individual glory in the boxing ring, while the younger excelled as part of a team. Tamerlan “swaggered” through the family home like a “man-of-the-house type,” one visitor recalls, while Dzhokhar seemed “very respectful and...

Shooting at Colorado pot holiday gathering injures 2 DENVER (AP) — Gunfire erupted at a Denver pot celebration Saturday, injuring two people and scattering a crowd of thousands who had gathered for the first 4/20 counterculture holiday since the state legalized marijuana. The man and woman who were shot were expected to survive, and police were looking for one or two suspects, said Denver Police spokesman Sonny Jackson. Police asked festival attendees for possible photo or video of the shootings...

Gun control forces seek new path after big loss WASHINGTON (AP) — It was a powerful moment on the White House lawn when thousands of guests, the loved ones of slain crime victims among them, crowded in as President Bill Clinton signed a sweeping crime bill that was six years in the making and included a hotly disputed ban on assault weapons. “Today, at last, the waiting ends,” Clinton said on that day in 1994. “Today, the bickering stops, the era of excuses is over.” Hardly. Two decades and...

The unfolding of a 5-day manhunt for bomb suspects Ten seconds and 100 yards. The time and distance between two bombs. Two crudely built bombs set off 10 seconds and 100 yards apart without warning or threat, ripping through a crowd of spectators and runners, filling the street with fire, blood and limbs. Two bombs that began a cascade of casualties and terror, that triggered a massive manhunt that paralyzed a city. It began Monday with two bombs 10 seconds and 100 yards apart just shy of the ...

Attorney: Scant evidence in Mississippi ricin case OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Federal authorities have produced scant evidence linking a Mississippi man to the mailing of ricin-laced letters to the president and a senator, his attorney says. Christi McCoy said after a court hearing Friday that the government has offered no evidence to prove her client, Paul Kevin Curtis, had possession of any ricin or the seed from which it is extracted — castor beans. An FBI agent testified during the hearing that ...

World finance leaders issue sober assessment WASHINGTON (AP) — World finance leaders issued a somber assessment on Saturday of the global economy, saying the recovery remains uneven with growth and jobs in short supply. The steering committee for the 188-nation International Monetary Fund issued a final communique that called for decisive action to bolster growth. However, the major economies remained at odds over the best mix of policies to pursue. “An uneven recovery is emerging but gr...

Boston bomb suspect hospitalized under heavy guard BOSTON (AP) — Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev lay hospitalized in serious condition under heavy guard Saturday — apparently in no shape to be interrogated — as investigators tried to establish the motive for the deadly attack and the scope of the plot. People across the Boston area breathed easier the morning after Tsarnaev, 19, was pulled, wounded and bloody, from a tarp-covered boat in a Watertown backyard. The capture came...

The stories of 2 brothers suspected in bombing BOSTON (AP) — Tamerlan Tsarnaev was an amateur boxer with muscular arms and enough brio to arrive at a sparring session without protective gear. His younger brother Dzhokhar was popular in high school, won a city scholarship for college and liked to hang out with Russian friends off-campus. Details of two lives, suddenly infamous, came to light Friday. Overnight, two men previously seen only in grainy camera images were revealed to be ethnic C...

Sheriff: Storage unit led to arrests in DA deaths KAUFMAN, Texas (AP) — A tip pointing to a cache of guns and a vehicle hidden at a storage unit helped investigators to unravel a meticulous revenge plot that had culminated in the killings of three people, including two North Texas prosecutors, a sheriff said. Former justice of the peace, Eric Lyle Williams, and his wife, Kim Williams, are charged with capital murder in the fatal shootings of District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynt...